A great many of devices have been developed in the prior art for serving as a fishing rod holder. Many of these devices are particularly adapted for use in holding fishing rods in a secure position on a boat during either trolling or still fishing. Of course rod holders must securely hold a fishing rod so that the rod cannot be pulled from the holder by a striking fish, or when a trolled lure strikes an obstruction. Such rod holder devices also need to be securely fastened to the boat, so that, once again, a fish striking a lure attached to a rod will not pull the rod and the rod holder from the boat.
For the sake of convenience, most rod holders currently available are two-part devices, in which a first part is permanently fastened to a boat, and a second part actually receives and holds the fishing rod, and is removably connected with the first part. Examples of such fishing rod holders are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,231,785 issued Aug. 3, 1993, 5,014,458 issued May 14, 1991, 5,184,797 issued Feb. 9, 1993, 3,792,829 issued Feb. 19, 1974. While such rod holders are quite effective and serve their purpose quite well, the base part which is secured to the boat presents something of a problem since it remains in place, even when it is not being used.
Many boats are used as dual purpose boats, both for fishing and for recreational purposes. But, when the boat is being used for recreation, i.e. water skiing, the base portion of the rod holder remains in place in the boat. Often the base is in the way of the persons in the boat. Removing the base portion is somewhat time-consuming and inconvenient, as one must remove the attaching screws used to fasten the base, and of course this leaves unsightly screw holes in the deck of the boat.
Likewise, when the boat is sold, either the rod holders must be removed, leaving the unsightly screw holes, or the rod holders must be sold with the boat.
Accordingly a primary object of the invention is to provide an improved fishing rod holder mount.
Another object of this invention is to provide a mount for fishing rod holders which is secure but quickly removable from the boat.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a mount for fishing rod holders which does not require drilling screw holes into the boat in order to just attach the rod holder.
Yet another object of the invention is to use an existing device found on most boats for securely attaching a rod holder to the boat.
A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting base for fishing rod holders which can be quickly attached to or removed from a rope cleat.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a fishing rod holder mounting base which can be used with rope cleats mounted on either a horizontal or a vertical boat surface.